Screw driver



Feb. 19, 1924. 1,484,379

- A. E. RAINEY SCREW DRIVER Filed July 14 1922 glwucufoi A-E-Rciiflg r.

atfozucqt Patented Feb. 19, 1924.

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AUSTIN E. RAINEYQOF GROVE CITY, PENNSYLVANIA.

. SCREW DRIVER.

Application filed July 14, 1922. Serial No. 574,992.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUsTIN E. RAINEY', citizen of the United States, residing at Grove City, in the county of Mercer and State of Pennsylvania, have invented oer tain new and useful Improvements in Screw Drivers of which the following is a specification. g

This invention relates to an improved screw driver particularly designed for use by automobile mechanics and seeks, as one of its principal objects, to provide a screw driver which will combine the features of a dielectric handle and an extensible bit, thus adapting the screw driver to the varying needs of automobile repair work.

The invention has as a further object to provide a screw driver wherein the bit may be readily telescoped into the handle for decreasing the effective lengthof the bit and as easily withdrawn and secured in extended position.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a screw driver embodying a sleeve for telescopically receiving the bit and wherein thrust upon the bit will be communicated to said sleeve to be sustained thereby.

And the invention has as a still further object to provide a screw driver wherein the bit may be readily removed so that a longer or shorter bit may be substituted in lieu thereof.

Other and incidental objects will appear hereinafter.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional View through my improved screw driver, showing the bit extended.

Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1,

showing the bit retracted, and

Figure 3 is a transverse sectional View on the line 33 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows.

In carrying the invention into effect, I employ a longitudinally tapered handle 10 which may be formed of wood or other suitable insulating material and fitting over the handle at its smaller end is a metal ferrule 11. Integrally formed on or otherwise rigidly secured to said ferrule is an axially disposed squared sleeve 12 opening through the ferrule and embedded in the handle to extend longitudinally thereof throughout the major portion of its length. Slidable in said sleeve is a squared bit 13 snugly fitting the sleeve to be held thereby against rotation and formed in the bit near its inner end is a notch 14:. Mounted within the ferrule 11 is a spring pressed. catch to coact withthe bit. Atone side,.the sleeve 12 is formed near its forward end with an opening at the endsof which the sleeve is bent up to provide parallel guide flanges 15 and freely received in said opening to coact with said flanges is a catch block 16. Connected to the sides of said block is a yoke 17 from which rises a stud or button 18 extending freely through the ferrule and suitably secured within the yoke to bear between the yoke and the side of the sleeve opposite the block 16 is a flat longitudinally bowed spring 19 resting at its ends against the sleeve.

As will now-be seen, the bit 13 may, as shown in Figure 1, be drawn outwardly from within the handle 10 until the catchblock 16 drops into the notch 14 of the bit, when the catch will operate to lock the bit extended. The efiective length of the bit may thus be readil increased and, as will be observed, end t rust upon the bit w ll be communicated through the catch block to the sleeve 12 to be sustained by the sleeve so that the bit will be rigidly supported while liability of breakage of any of the parts will be reduced to a minimum. For

retracting the bit, the button '18 is depressed to disengage the catch block 16 from within the notch 14 when, as shown in Figure 2, the bit may be shifted inwardly within the handle. The efiective length of the bit may thus be readily decreased and, as will be observed, when the bit is thus retracted, the spring 19 will serve to bind the catch'block against the bit for frictionally locking the bit against outward movement. Thus, the bit may be readily adjusted to meet the requirements of different work and attention is now directed to the fact that the handle 10 will insulate the bit with respect tothe hand of the operator in either the retracted or extended positon of the bit so that the screw driver may be employed upon parts electrically charged. The device is thus particularly well adapted for use by automobile mechanics who, as is well known, often use a screw driver for testing spark plugs or for other similar electrical testing purposes. Furthermore, as will be noted,

the bit may be readily removed from the handle so that a longer or shorter bit may be easily substituted in lieu thereof.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

In a screw driver, the combination of a, ferrule having a rigidly fixed at one end to said end Wall terminating'flush therewith, a handle bored to snugly accommodate the opposite end portion of the sleeve and Wedgedin the rear end of the ferrule, the sleeve being provided forwardly of the inner end of the handle with an opening and being bent up at onposite ends of said opening to define parallel thrust flanges, a bit slidable in the sleeve and provided with a notch, and locking means for the bit housed within the ferrule forward end Wall, a sleeve and mounted on said sleevebetween the inner end of the handle and said end wall of the ferrule, said means including a block slidable between said flanges to extend through said opening engaging in said notch locking the bit against endwise movement, a yoke secured to the block straddling the sleeve and provided with a releasing button extending freely through the ferrule, and a flat bowed spring bearing between the yoke and sleeve for holding the block engaged in said notch sustained by said thrust flanges to coact between the bit and sleeve for diverting endwise thrust upon the bit to the sleeve.

In testimony nature.

AUSTIN E; RAINEY. [n sl whereof I vaffix my 

